The Grocery Game Challenge October 1-7, 2012-Giving Thanks!

It’s October already can you believe it with Thanksgiving knocking on our door and the scary monsters are anticipating the fun of trick or treating. It’s that time when we give thanks for all the blessings in our life and appreciate this beautiful world we have been given to live in. Take the time to thank those that have helped you in any way even if it is opening a door or making you smile. The power of the spoken word can make someone’s day a little brighter, especially those that don’t hear it often enough.

The Grocery Game Challenge has been going on almost all year now and we are a few short months away from seeing how we made out for the year. Although I suggest checking in every few months to make sure you are on track for the most part if you stick to your budget you should hit the mark.

We are aiming to ramp up our goals for next year and make some new changes with our grocery budget. We hope the changes will allow us to better get a grip on our expenses. I’ve also updated the grocery game template that will help us keep our shops nice and tidy each week and easy to follow on the rules page. I will post it below, as one fan noted they couldn’t copy paste it and that was my fault as I posted it as a photo. You can add in what you like ie: Total SCOP, Total Discounts, etc. It’s up to you but it’s nice to see it all in one spot at the end of each fans shop.

Template: Copy paste this each week.

Name Your Store ie: Zehrs

List what you purchased and coupons used below it with bullet points.

•Total Coupons Used: $

•Total Out Of Pocket: $

Do the above for each receipt you have.

Weekly Grocery Game Challenge Results

•Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $

•Total Coupons Used this Week : $

•Total Spent This Week:$

•Total Spent So Far for September: $

•Total Over/Under spend this shop: $ Let us know if it is over or under

•Total Over/Under spend for the month of September: $

•Total Left to Spend for the Month: $

•Total Coupons Used This Month : $

Weekly Overview: Share your overall thoughts on your shop and what improvements you will need to make or any achievements you want to talk about.

We had a slow start to the month as our freezer is filled to the rim but we also had to take the time to go through it all. If you haven’t heard of the Canadian Food Inspection Beef Recall that’s been going on this past few weeks it’s important you do. Apparently there has been E Coli a potentially deadly bacteria found in beef products and they have shut down an Alberta plant XL Foods Manufacturing until further notice. There is a list of stores and a list of recalled products that potentially have the tainted meat and you are urged to read the list and go through your freezer to check the dates. This is another good reason to download my freezer inventory list so you have all this information at your finger tips.

As we know Halloween is creeping up and with that brings Mr.CBB back to the kitchen to whip up some scary sweet treats. Stick around to see what I come up with… subscribe to Canadian Budget Binder so you get all my scary emails this month sent right to your inbox. We enjoy Halloween but are also feeling the spending pressures of the Holiday season approaching so we are focusing on both scary little people, turkey and Christmas shopping. Now is a great time to start your shopping and saving money in your budget.

Christmas is one of the biggest reasons credit card debt grows exponentially simply because there is no planning for heightened expenses over the holidays. This is another reason why Canadians are in debt so we need to have a plan of action in place to stop this cycle of debt.

Do you budget for the holidays?

What do you do to lessen the expenses?

Finally, This month if I get 5 new grocery game challenger posters join I will draw an extra winner for the month of October. I’d like to see that the people who do post their shops do it because they “want” to save money in the budget and that my prize is just that a perk.

I would like to see Canadian Budget Binder Fans around the world post their shops….

To save money in the grocery budget.

To hold themselves accountable for their shopping.

To motivate not only themselves but others.

To make like-minded friends who also post their shops.

To understand where their money is going when grocery shopping.

To think of other ways to save money in the budget.

To spend some time in the kitchen exploring new recipes.

To help with meal planning.

To encourage other Canadians to join the Grocery Game Challenge Movement.

To promote saving money wherever possible and make it a life-style change not something you feel you have to do, but something you should do.

What are your reasons for joining the Grocery Game Challenge?

Frequently Asked Question: Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop? No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have a few posters from around the world.

What are you waiting for? Join in and Save!

September Grocery Game Challenge Winner is…………… #10 shop belonging to Wingsze Blake. Congratulations WING and Congratulations to all of you who posted your shop, we are all winners… saving money is a big Win! So pat yourselves on the shoulder for investing in your finances and posting your shop. The biggest win of all.

Coupon Match-Ups

Here are your Coupon Match-ups for the week October 5-11, 2012 from around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better. Just one of my favourite Couponing sites for finding the hottest grocery deals in Canada! Check it out!

Total Grocery Budget for the Month of October: $190.00 or $63.33 per week for 3 weeks a month with one no-shop week.

Total Coupons Used this Week : $4.00

Total SCOP this week : $3.28

Total Spent This Week:$25.35

Total Spent So Far for October: $25.35

Total Over/Under spend this shop: $37.98

Total Over/Under spend for October: $37.98

Total Left to Spend for October: $164.65

Total Coupons Used In October : $4.00

Weekly Overview: We didn’t need too much this week so we have used up some of what we have in the house instead of piling on more. We’re hoping to set some new goals next year where if we overspend one month we make it up the next. I got this idea by another Grocery Game Poster, Mary who does this and it makes sense. If we have a yearly goal of $190 x 12= $2280 for example we need to stick to it even if that means we cut back the next month if we went over budget. The money has to come from somewhere so if it’s not budgeted in you need to make up for it. Don’t forget when making your grocery budget for all the birthday parties you might have to plan, holiday dinners etc. It’s better to estimate something than nothing at all. If you don’t use it then that’s extra money in your pocket. Smart! Thanks Mary.

Finally, I want to Thank everyone who has participated, mentioned, tweeted whatever you have done to get the word out about Canadian Budget Binder and The Grocery Game Challenge. It’s because of all of your support I continue to turn on my computer and log in to this blog and to my social media outlets each and every day, so Thank-You. Happy Thanksgiving to All my Fans! –

You can Follow Canadian Budget Binder on Twitter HERE or Facebook HERE and Pinterest Here.

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I’m from the UK and now a recent permanent resident in Canada. I bought my first house at the age of 21 after University then my second at the age of 24. I’ve always been fascinated with personal finance, savings, learning to make money and watch it grow while combating debts along the way. Canadian Budget Binder is a place where I get to share my experiences with personal finance and learn about yours along the way. I hope you stick around and check me out on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest where I am active on all social media sites. Cheers, Mr.CBB

Way to go Mary! I think this is one of your biggest shops to date. I want to pick up some pumpkin puree myself so I can make something in the kitchen. What do you do with yours? I’m jealous you are heading out on vacation but I know one day my time will come. So you are under budget this month…. and smart idea to save it in a Christmas/New Years Grocery Treats fund. Do you put money in this fund all year long? What types of treats would you buy? Keep up the amazing work Mary, you are an inspiration. Mr.CBB
You get Ballot #1 for the month ya!

I think for the most part we all share similar posts but we all have our own experiences which no one could ever take away and those very experiences and the way we express ourselves are what keep our fans on the edge of their seats. Cheers mate.. look forward to your post. Mr.CBB

Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $200.00
Total Coupons Used this Week : $0
Total Spent This Week:$ 46.99
Total Spent So Far for October: $46.99
Total Over/Under spend this shop: -$3.01
Total Over/Under spend for the month of October: -$3.01
Total Left to Spend for the Month: $153.01

The E. Coli warnings has me a bit nervous, as I am not 100% sure when I bought my supply. I will definitely have to keep better records of this going forward! We have already used half of it up with no signs of illness, so hopefully we didn’t get a contaminated batch.

I want to try to incorporate some coupons going forward so I will check your coupon link and see what I can save on. I, unfortunately, don’t receive any of the flyers, so I can’t utilize the price match, but I will see what i can do to rectify this as well.

I noticed that you included deodorant in your shop; do you generally include household items in the shops as well?

Hi Vicky!
I know October.. it was June just yesterday wasn’t it. Ha! We are not big beef eaters here but we do have some.The only beef we may have bought was with the $4.00 off coupon from the old elpaso we picked up in the summer for the kids and didn’t eat yet. Those coupons were a revolving door for us but now we wish we got the chicken instead. The freezer inventory has helped make the search easy as we always mark down dates and what we have in our freezer for easy reference.

Yes check out Save Big Live Better also on my blog she wrote a couple guest posts this one is Where to find Canadian Coupons and all the links… you can order them right to your home.

Yes we include household items in our shop but we have so much of it we don’t have to buy it often. We used coupons in 2010-2011 when they were high value, or the stores had awesome prices and people weren’t couponing as much. Then came that silly tv show and every Tom, Dick and Harry started couponing and the shops and mfg took it into high gear with smaller coupon denominations, and instead of 50% off stickers in some shops you now see 30% and deals are not the same however every penny counts. We have close to 100 jugs of laundry soap so you won’t see us buy that ever.. and on and on. We do buy toilet paper when it’s on sale even though we have lots because my theory is get it while you can. You will be wiping your butt until you die so stock up. We will stock health and beauty and cleaning but not so much food.. the odd stuff but not alot as we simply don’t eat it all and it goes off and in the bin. Meal planning will be our saviour as will eating fresh fruits, veg, grains, pasta etc and staying away from any crap in boxes as much as we can help it. That’s part of our goal. No more cookies etc.. if we want it we will make it from scratch that way it’s not always in the house so we keep eating it. We don’t need that stuff anyhow but it’s a personal decision as some enjoy eating snacks, we aren’t big on them unless it’s fruits, veg, cheese or nuts. Sometimes we make tortilla chips…super easy and dip them in homemade salsa, spring onion, and sour cream and top it with cheese for a snack..

Glad to see you added in the $40 which I think is proper to do as it is part of the grocery. Do you believe your $200 with the $40 is attainable? How do you plan to stick to that goal?

You get ballot #2 for the month!! Keep up the good work and remember if it’s not on your list, ask yourself why you need to have it.
Mr.CBB

•Total Over/Under spend for the month of September: On Budget
•Total Left to Spend for the Month: $138.10
•Total Coupons Used This Month : $0.00

With Thanksgiving coming up, we are hosting a dinner. Generally we pay for some of the dinner out of spending money since we won’t be eating all of it. I’ll only report items we bought with grocery money on this form.

Hey!
Welcome!
So you essentially have the same budget as Mrs.CBB and I for the month. Do you shop every week? Everyone seems to be buying Pumpkin Puree this week lol. I think I will pick up a can because I want to make something special in the kitchen, likely a cake for Halloween. Your grocery list looks like ours as we aim to keep it to the basics veg, fruit,grains,beans,noodles,eggs and the odd bits and bobs… I think that really helps keep the costs low for us when we stop buying “this and that” and stick to the basics.
What would you say is your eating style at home?
Do you ever use coupons or would you if you saw some you would use?

You have a healthy budget left for the month, looking forward to see how you make use of that and if you can stick to it!
Cheers
Mr.CBB
You get Ballot #4 for our monthly draw!

Absolutely love this idea of tracking through your template. I may well join in (add it to my Sunday review or something)! I drive my wife mad being so Frugal at the shops and this will only escalate this! Would also be interesting to compare the UK and Canada pricing…

Me mum calls me at least once per week and tells me how rubbish the prices are getting in the UK. When they came to visit me here back a few years they were amazed at how cheap food was. They were also shocked at how we can use coupons here to lower prices and the amount of deals. Sometimes we don’ t know how well we have it here. Would be awesome to compare. Where are you living? Mr.CBB

I read mortgagefreeinthree.com and the UK has this company called ApprovedFoods… I am so jealous! It’s a seller of close to expiring and already expired foods. Some of the deals are amazing! Personally, I don’t care if my couscous is past the date or not. There’s free shipping or 5 pound shipping at certain price points too. (PS – Elaine’s blog has an affiliate link that she’d very much appreciate people using… plus I highly recommend her blog!)

Hmm, not sure if my comment was lost in the ether or not! I read mortgagefreeinthree.com and learned about Approved Foods in the UK from it. I’m very jealous! They sell close to expiring and expired products at crazy low prices, with occasional free shipping and 5 pound shipping at certain price points. I wish we had something like that in Canada (anyone know how we could start that business?! seems a bit like Liquidation World?). Definitely tell your mum to check it out + Savvy Scot I hope you know about it already! (PS: Elaine’s blog has an affiliate link which I’m sure she’d appreciate folks using, plus I love reading her blog, so check it out too!)

This Challenge sounds epic! I may well join in and add it to my Sunday Review! I already drive my wife mad at the shops that I am so Frugal… this would only escalate this!! Would also be interesting to compare Uk and Canadian pricing!

Hi Adeline!! Congratulations on taking the first step to taking control of the grocery budget. You will be posting with some of the greatest fans ever… they are such a motivational bunch and we have all been saving money just by posting and holding ourselves accountable. I look forward to your shops and if you have any questions at any time simply email me. Cheers Adeline. Mr.CBB

Mr. CBB… our Christmas/Holiday treats fund has $91.90 from this month in it so that we can basically do lunch with Larry’s mother and sister and another couple of lunches with two of our friends. Usually $30 per lunch is enough including the tips.

I have another $100 currently set aside so that we can buy some extra little treats – like some nuts, dried fruits, etc for a little holiday baking and still have enough for our Christmas dinner & my birthday supper on Dec 26th. Our Xmas dinner will be in Portland (2 x $9.99 + tip) and my birthday will be at a favorite soup & salad spot for about $20 for both of us because we use a discount member’s coupon that comes out each week. These extra Christmas funds, I have been setting aside $10 each and every month.

I use the regular grocery budget of 3 weeks x $47.50 for the rest of the month of the month of December, because the last week of December we are away again! AND, since we aren’t back from this coming vacation until November 13th, I’ll also have 2 weeks of grocery budget available for saving…in my “just in case something wonderful comes up” that we want to do. For example, we always enjoy a nice holiday movie in the theater but there hasn’t been one in a few years.

As we are away for the Christmas holidays, we have one week of our December grocery budget that we will not use (Dec 22-Jan 1). These funds I plan to keep for our New Years Eve in Portland.

So here’s how our 2012 holidays funds shake down, not including the gift cards I still have from last Christmas, that we could use if we wanted a splurge:

(3) Lunches over the holiday season $91.90

Xmas baking treats $60 + (2) dinners $40 = $100

Xmas Just in Case Fund from Nov 1-13 grocery budget = $47.50+$47.50 = $95 extra if we need it – otherwise we’ll save it for next year.

New Years Fund from Dec 22-31 grocery fund $47.50

My pumpkin puree is to make a batch of pumpkin-pecan-crystallized ginger muffins for the Thanksgiving weekend while hubby and I enjoy our morning tea. He loves a morning muffin! I also like to have a spare can on hand of the puree.

I’ve already got my canned & frozen cranberries for Christmas… so next up I will be picking a jar of mincemeat so that I can make Christmas muffins when we get there. Now that smells divine when they are baking!

i am still trying to adjust our monthly budget, the first month i set it to $190, blew it for $80!, 2nd month, i set it to 220, ended up i blew $78 (but i stocked up on coffee for 6 months!), so this month i am setting it at 240 and see if i can do it! keep up the good work Wing-sze!!! and you mr CBB, and everybody at CBB, keep it up and lets work together!!!! go CBB go! we are A team!!!!

Hey WING!!!
Welcome back mate… have a seat on the leather couch and make yourself at home lol…
Thanks for all the kind words of support Wing, it means alot. I’m happy to see you are playing with your budget so it is realistic, something that alot of people fail to do. If you can handle the $240 in your budget and that is what you typically would spend then go for it. There’s ‘no point overspending each week if you have to up the budget. So far you are at a cool $54 .. let’s see if October is THE month for you.. keep at it,head up, plan and stick to it.. you can do this GO WING GO!!
You get ballot #6
Mr.CBB

Total for the week$139.27(under$10.73)with $5.00 coupons.
The sugar and Royale products were a one day sale so I grabbed them. The turkey will be cooked on Sunday and I’ll try to keep track of how many meals we get out of it. I have cranberries in the freezer for the sauce and bits and pieces of bread I’ll get out to make the dressing. I’m trying to think of a nice dessert to make then too out of the cupboard…. maybe a chocolate pudding cake, won’t need to buy anything for that unless I get some ice cream to go with it. The cider mix is a little pricey but the oldest boy likes it in the cooler weather as he doesn’t care for hot chocolate.. oh well. I’ll be looking for sales on that to stock up. Tomorrow Foodland has butter on early bird sales for $2.77 so I’ll be getting some of that first thing.

Hey there Christine, I hope all is well and welcome back… let’s take a look at your week.
So you came in under budget, congratulations. It seems most are doing well so far this month. It’s time to get into gear and save, save, save. We also stock up when there is a good price and sometimes that can hurt our budget so we are working hard to make sure we make up for those stockpile days. Good idea to track how many meals your turkey will give you. Please let me know. That’s a great deal for butter. We stock up starting now for any baking we do for the holidays as prices just sky rocket especially for butter and nuts.
Keep at it Christine and Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family.
Cheers Mr.CBB
You get ballot #7

•Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $400
•Total Coupons Used this Week : $25.72
•Total Spent This Week:$80.78
•Total Spent So Far for September: $80.78
•Total Under spend this shop: $11.53
•Total Under spend for the month of September: $11.53
•Total Left to Spend for the Month: $319.22
•Total Coupons Used This Month : $25.72

Weekly Overview: So I had a good week even with purchasing a fair amount of meat as there were some good sales. I luck out this weekend as we always go to a relative’s house for Thanksgiving dinner so I did not have to buy any groceries for the meal which is an added bonus. We no longer subscribe to the local newspaper so I no longer get most of the grocery flyers. I can still see them by going online but I don’t have them to take to the store to price match. I could have saved a little more at RCSS by ad matching had I some of the flyers.

Hi Joanna!!
Welcome back to the GGC! I love how you are using the template, thanks it makes it so much easier for me to evaluate and I’m sure for yourself. This week you used a whopping $25 in coupons, that’s great to see the savings stay in your bank account. Often we forget that all those savings would have come from our budget if we didn’t use those coupons. You are also under budget for the week, so impressed with everyone this week! We don’t get the local paper but are lucky because we get flyers separate and for free. How much did the subscription cost you per month? What are your plans now that you don’t get the flyers in terms of price matching? Can you print out the ad from online? There has to be an easier way for people so I don’t know why the shops just don’t have a master list each week of their competitors so we don’t have to lug these bloody newspapers around. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family.
Mr.CBB
You get ballot #7

Total Spent 115.36
Total Saved 38.04
Remaining Budget for the Month =234.64 with two more shops to go. I should be good. I bought some closeout things this time that will hold us for a while. We’ll see!

Hi Kim!!!
Welcome back to the Grocery Game Challenge! We are getting more and more people interested and I’m thrilled to see some of my original players from the beginning making some amazing feats with their grocery budget. What is your challenge with grocery shopping? Why do you overspend? Do you bring a list with you? Do sales entice you? How do you plan to stick to your grocery budget? With 2 more shops to go if you stick to it mate you have this one in the bag. You have more than enough cash to get you through to the end… although what hurts us sometime are those stockpiling events on sale items like toilet paper. THis week for example I believe it’s 30 rolls for under $5 so most will stock up which could put a dent in the budget. What we are working on doing is in cases like this just trimming the budget best we can and sticking to it. If we go over then we transfer that overage to the next month to make up for it. We really want to see the numbers at the end of the year add up to what we set out in our budget. I hope you continue to post your shops Kim and that you reach for your goals like Mrs.CBB and I are trying to do. Thanks mate and keep up the hard work. Happy Holidays. Mr.CBB

Hey Jen!
I’m shocked and jealous that you can find the Zantac and the Nexxus… well Mrs.CBB is. I use the Zantac for my heartburn but can never find it and free is good. Way to go this week Jen… you can do it for next week just stick to the plan and if you see you are going over look in your cart and ask yourself how badly you need some of the stuff. Can you live without something? Congrats and keep it up!! You get ballt #10
Mr.CBB

Hey Juanita!
I have to come out and say those Fibre 1 brownies are rubbish… you can make your own brownies and cut a tiny slice for a fraction of the cost. It’s all portion control, plus mine taste a million times better than those. I know because we used that FPC on them a while back and they ended up in the bin. Great you found the cream cheese we’ve been looking for it and have yet to spot it. Now I know where to look! We Always read the receipt before leaving but sometimes we actually pull our cart over for a second as too many people are in the shop and it’s hard to concentrate. You could always call the manager or just bring your receipt in next time you go. SHops are pretty good about that. Looks like you scored the chicken clearance, good for you. Did you get hungry while shopping at Sobeys and pick up a sandwich for $.99 (just nosey)? All that and you came in under budget woohoo.. you know I never know what you all spend until I get to the end of reading your shop. Good for you mate.. keep up the hard work. Your end of year numbers will be awesome! Mr.CBB You get ballot #11~

•Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $600
•Total Coupons Used this Week : $10.50
•Total Spent This Week:$130.19
•Total Spent So Far for October: $130.19
•Total Over/Under spend this shop: $ I’m under by 20 dollars.
•Total Left to Spend for the Month: $469.81

I was under budget this week…..going to be a tough month to stick to budget as i will be travelling back and forth to a hospital so as i did save on groceries this month we did have take three times this week which is unusual for us….and the prepackaged meals are for the hubby if im not home….hopefully wont need much in this coming week as we were all sick so didnt eat much and still have a freezer full of food from last week due to our take out….gotta get back on track…hard sometimes..but still working towards it.

Hi Joanne!
I can’t believe the cost of batteries, what a rubbish price they are. Good thing you had a coupon at least. That Walmart shop signifies that someone was ill. You watch now that the winter is upon us coupons for all those products will be on the shelves. Reading the end of your post tells me about the illness now. I’m hoping you all feel a bit better. Keep your spirits up and do your best that’s all you can do. SO far so good and at least you are budgeting, always remember that. You can do this! Cheers Mr.CBB You get ballot #12.

Thanksgiving overspend! Biscuits, marshmellows for smores. Bananas, choc chips for campfire. We hosted 21 people for Thanksgiving dinner. Guess I don’t need too much sugary desserts for the next few weeks as we have leftover from all these.

I agree the milk was very costly ah well sometimes we need to buy stuff like that. You buy organic, how do you find that affects your budget? Has it driven your budget up much? We love organic but grow what we can in the summer as it so costly in the shops. Wow you had lots of people over for Thanksgiving. You won’t need any sweets you are right. Do budget in the extra expenses when you host large gatherings or just go with the grocery budget that you have and try to make it work? Great shopping … keep up the good work!!! Your budget is similar to ours at 190.00 for 2 people. You get ballot#13 Cheers Mr.CBB

It doesn’t affect the budget that much, cos I’m always on the lookout for sales. The Independent has 50% off various organics and produce every week, so that makes it cheaper or the same price as conventional. And the date dues are not even immediate, the store actually knows that people need time to finish their food, so they’re good in that respect. I started my first garden this year and have been totally enjoying my non-GMO seeds. I harvested carrots, beans, tomatoes. Oh, you can see some of my garden pics here if you wish
Good thing it was pot luck for Thanksgiving! Tho we provided the turkey, sausages, noodles etc. Im trying to do it within our budget and see how that goes. Let’s see if we come in on budget this week!

I like the 50% off racks and stickers and we try to always hit them up first before anything else to see what’s on them. I’m sure you can stick to the budget just have faith and don’t give in. This week is a no shop week for us and it can be hard to not go out to shop. It’s so worth it though.

Mr.CBB I haven’t even tried those brownies yet, lol, my girl wantd to try them and I agree yours are proabably 100 times better
Our lunches that we buy are included in our weekly food budget and there have been a few days when I have forgotten to pack a lunch and my sweetie isn’t coming to have lunch with me that day so I impulse buy lunch and usually upset that it is kinda a big waste of money (to me). Yes my work marked down lots of chicken so I took advantage of it eventhough our freezer is pretty full as is. But we had chicken wings sat night and fried chicken sunday for thanksgiving!!!! My new work doesn’t really mark down alot of beef and pork so I have to really watch the sales even more than normal.
Glad that we have managed to keep under budget so thanks for being there keeping us accountable and encouranging us to keep on track!

No problem, I just thought I would ask as $4.99 for a sandwich was a bit much to me but sometimes things happen, don’t get upset…I’m the same way I think of all the ingredients I can buy for $4.99…. crazy but oddly enough the convenience does stick a knife in our budget. Good deals on the meat, you’re lucky to be in the midst of it all> I probably would overspend if I worked in a shop..lol Cheers Juanita!

original budget was $200 per month. (ugh…i’m way off) so, i’ve put a spending limit of $120 for the month of october. now keep in mind that this month will not be a usual month for us as we are well stocked with meat and veg in the freezer, the pantry is in good shape and we honestly don’t need much else. our avg monthly spending was $263 until we blew it last month $400 (eeek). also note that i had quite a few fpcs that i could use and a few of the kelloggs gas cards to help bring the oop down in the shopping this week….so it isn’t what i would call a ‘normal’ shopping week, although i’m not sure if i know what normal is anymore we are a family of ma & pa & teenage walking stomach and 2 kitty cats. i lump just about everything into the grocery categlory.

Hi Chickypoodles..
You know we are going to do the same as you and Mary our other poster. When you go over one month the next month we have to make up for that overage so the end of year works out otherwise we still end up over budget. Although sticking to the monthly budget is the name of the game it’s not always a possibility especially if there are great sales to stock up on. Is that home depot deal still on? WHere is the printable coupons? That my dear is some wicked shopping.. wow!!! Keep at it and I know what you mean about not knowing what normal is… You get ballot #19 Mr.CBB

Hi Pam!
Wow, I can’t believe you caught up like that woohoo… I’m so proud of you. You have no idea how flushed I was to see all those updates dating back. You are truly dedicated to saving money in your grocery budget. I didn’t comment on them all but I did read them over. This week you had an overspend and a carry over so that’s good that you are tracking that way. Next year Mrs.CBB and I are going to tighten the belt and stick to the $190 a month for 12 months.. although it may go up with the inflation on food. This year was a big learning experience for us. What have you learned so far by posting your grocery shops? MR.CBB you get ballot #30

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